Floradora!

So, last week, How's Your Drink, my favorite column in the Saturday Wall Street Journal, turned its spotlight on a cocktail popular around the turn of the century--the 19th century that is--called the "Florodora." The drink was named after the smash musical of the same name, which opened on Broadway in 1900. Florodora's signature piece was a tune called "Tell Me, Pretty Maiden, Are There Any More At Home Like You" which was sung by a chorus of girl stunners known as the Florodora Sexette. These ladies were the Spice Girls of their era; during the show's run over seventy gorgeous chorines passed through the Florodora ranks. Graduation from the Sexette was almost always via marriage to a millonaire, and the most famous of the Florodora Girls, Evelyn Nesbit, became notorious when she unwittingly inspired her playboy husband to murder noted architect Stanford White.

Ayah, ayah--but what about the drink? Well, the Florodora sounded lipsmackingly good, so I immediately ran out, procured the necessary libations, and mixed up a batch. It was lipsmacking good, but boyo did it pack a powerful punch. Definitely not for the family crowd. And that seemed so unfair, that I retired to the Conjuring Closet, and, after some rearranging, omissions, and subsitutions, came up with a receipt that can be enjoyed by imbibers of all ages. One of the substitutions I made was an A for an O, so I give you now:

The Floradora!

2 oz raspberry syrup
6 oz good ginger ale
1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
Mix together in a tall glass, well-filled with ice.
Serve with a lime garnish, and sip from a silver straw.

Ut!

With apologies to Evelyn Nesbit & Poor Stanny White, and also to Eric Felton, author of How's Your Drink.